Posted on by Staff Report

Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson spun and hit the wall in Turn 4 on Lap 31 of 267 in the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts on Saturday at Kentucky Speedway, one of multiple wrecks in the race.

For Johnson it was the second time during the race weekend that the No. 48 Chevrolet SS found the wall at the 1.5-mile track. Johnson wrecked during practice on Friday and had to go to a backup car for Saturday’s race.

Johnson has two victories this season, but they came early at Atlanta and Auto Club Speedway. He has just one top-10 finish in the past eight Sprint Cup races.

His best finish at Kentucky came in the series’ inaugural race in 2011, when he finished third.

After heading to the garage, Johnson returned to the race on Lap 75, 42 laps down from the leaders. He finished in 32nd place.

Johnson wasn’t the only driver to experience trouble, either. Joey Logano (Lap 53) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Lap 10) spent time in the garage after smacking the wall. Logano finished 39th and Stenhouse was 40th.

“You’re trying to slow down a lot and the brakes started going away and I don’t know what happened after that, if a rotor blew up or what made the tire go down, but the right-front went flat and I was pretty much along for the ride after that,” Logano said.

Rookies Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney ended up in the garage as well (Lap 87) after making contact, and the caution came out again on Lap 93 for a wreck on the backstretch involving the Nos. 7, 10, 34, 42, 44, 47, 95 and 98. Elliott finished in 31st place, and Blaney was 35th.

Cautions also came out for wrecks involving the Nos. 83, 7, 10, 15, 47 and 38 cars.

After his hard crash on Lap 170, AJ Allmendinger, driver of the JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet SS, emerged from the infield care center with a wrap on his left forearm/wrist. Allmendinger finished in 36th place.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Find NBCSN in your area | Watch live online at NBCSports.com

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series will gather for a doubleheader weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this week. Check out the full weekend schedule below.

Note: All times are ET


SUNDAY, JULY 17: 

PRE-RACE SCHEDULE

11:30:00 a.m.: NSCS Driver/Crew Chief Meeting (NXS Garage)

12:55:00 p.m.: NSCS Drivers Introductions with NASCAR Special Awards 

1:23:15 p.m.: Canadian National Anthem by: Kirk Young, Tilton, NH Resident 

1:25:00 p.m.: Moment of Silence

1:25:15 p.m.: Presentation of Colors by: Combined Services Color Guard

1:25:35 p.m.: Invocation by: Joshua Johnson 

1:26:15 p.m.: National Anthem: Caroline Burns, NBC’s The Voice Contestant 

1:32:15 p.m.: “Drivers, Start Your Engines” by: New Hampshire Governor Maggie Hassan

1:39:45 p.m.: Start of the New Hampshire 301 (301 laps, 318.46 miles)



ON TRACK

— 1:30 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series New Hampshire 301 (301 laps, 318.46 miles), NBCSN (Results)


PRESS CONFERENCE (Watch live)
— 4:30 p.m. (approx.): Post-NSCS race


DAILY ROUNDUP
— Bowman keeps missing Dale’s call
— NASCAR offers review of pit-road rule
— Report: Lorenzen joins brain pledge
— Bowman gains confidence behind wheel of No. 88
— Kenseth surges late for New Hampshire win
— Ky. Busch, Edwards sew up Chase berths
— Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota fails post-race inspection
— Stewart proves what ‘Smoke will rise’ means


FRIDAY, JULY 15:

— 11:30 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series first practice, NBCSN (Results)
— 1-1:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series first practice, NBCSN (Results)
— 3-4:25 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series second practice, NBCSN (Results)
— 4:45 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, NBCSN (Results)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 9:30 a.m.: Hendrick Motorsports general manager Doug Duchardt, Sprint Cup Series No. 88 crew chief Greg Ives and driver Alex Bowman (No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet)
— 10:15 a.m.: Ty Dillon  
— 10:30 a.m.: Ryan Newman  
— 10:45 a.m.: Kyle Busch
— 1 p.m.: Carl Edwards  
— 1:20 p.m.: Kyle Larson  
— 1:50 p.m.: Joey Logano  
— 6 p.m. (approx.): Brad Keselowski , Post-NSCS qualifying

GARAGECAM (Watch live)
— 11 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
— 2:30 p.m: NASCAR XFINITY Series

DAILY ROUNDUP

— Dale Jr. to miss New Hampshire race, Bowman filling in
— Reaction to Junior’s concussion news
— What drivers are saying about Dale Jr. missing race
— Gordon to drive No. 88 at Indy if Junior can’t
— Chase clinching scenarios for New Hampshire
— See Bowman in the No. 88 Chevrolet
— Bowman looks to make most of opportunity
— Junior’s health news unexpected, Hendrick official says
— Truex fastest in Friday’s first practice
— At-track photos from Friday at New Hampshire


SATURDAY, JULY 16:

— 10-10:55 a.m: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series second practice, CNBC (Results)
— 11:15 a.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, CNBC (NBCSN will pick up coverage at noon ET) (Results)
— 12:30-1:25 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, NBCSN (Results)
— 4 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series AutoLotto 200 (200 laps, 211.6 miles), NBCSN (Results)

PRESS CONFERENCE (Watch live)
— 6 p.m. (approx.): Post-NXS race

DAILY ROUNDUP
— Cain: Junior’s decision to sit out is absolutely right
— Elliott, Edwards top Saturday practices
— What was the secret to Jimmie’s pole-winning run?
— At-track photos from New Hampshire
— Ky. Busch wins XFINITY race at New Hampshire
— Dillon calls wreck by Bowman ‘on purpose’
— Watch Busch hold off Jones in final laps 

Posted on by Zack Albert

RELATED: Results | Standings

SPARTA, Ky. — Erik Jones had the best view from his office Friday night at Kentucky Speedway, leading in the closing stages, with only the pace car in front of him during a late caution period and with another NASCAR XFINITY Series win in sight.



But the equivalent of knocking over a pencil holder or a box of paper clips spoiled both the office feng shui inside his car and his shot at a victory in the Alsco 300.



While making adjustments inside the cockpit during the fourth of the race’s five yellow flags, Jones accidentally hit the ignition kill switch, causing his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota to stall. NASCAR competition officials ruled that Jones failed to keep pace during his flight fade, forcing him to line up third on the next-to-last restart on Lap 180 of 201 laps.



“I don’t know. I fell back 20 feet from the pace car, no different than if you’re saving fuel and they put me to third place, so I guess I gave it away,” Jones said after finishing fourth in the 40-car field. “It’s unfortunate. Good Reser’s Camry and nothing to show for it.”



Jones, who led three laps, explained that his late-race gaffe wasn’t a matter of purposely turning the car off and on to save fuel.



“There’s a lot of things obviously these drivers do in these car that the general fan doesn’t realize,” said Chris Gabehart, crew chief for Jones’ JGR No. 20. “They’re just as busy or busier under caution trying to manage a lot of things, and that’s what Erik was doing. Moving from one switch to the other, he just accidentally hit the ignition switch and turned it off, and it only takes a few seconds before you can’t maintain speed and that’s all.”



Jones’ frustration as he emerged from the car was evident late Friday night, but Gabehart said the miscue wasn’t solely the responsibility of the driver, who is still in his first full season of XFINITY Series competition.



“No one puts more pressure on him than he does on himself, like any great athlete or performer would,” Gabehart said. “It’s no different with him. But he’s just 20. He’s still making mistakes every day for the first time like we all are, but when you’re younger, you make a lot more of them in a day and you’ve got to learn from them.



“Just a simple mistake, but we made the mistake. That’s what I want to stress is, it’s not Erik we’re talking about. Just like it wasn’t my team we were talking about last week at Daytona or at Iowa, it’s us as a race team no matter what, and that’s the biggest lesson I want him to take from this. And he will. He’s a smart kid.”



Jones said he was able to salvage some consolation from his ninth top-five effort of the year, the most of any full-time XFINITY Series driver so far this season. The Michigan native sits fourth in the standings heading to the series’ next race, scheduled next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.



“I mean, we had some good moments, we had a good race car, and it was a good team-building day for us,” Jones said. “A lot of good changes, a lot of good gains and it’s a pretty good run for a repave. Just unfortunate it didn’t work out. I felt like we did have the fastest car here once we got out front, but it’s just hard to get back up there once you get back in traffic, so not our night.”

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Full race results | Standings | Chase Grid
SHOP: Keselowski gear



SPARTA, Ky. – Brad Keselowski had his mojo working in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.



Saving just enough fuel to get to the finish line, Keselowski eked out a heart-thumping victory over Carl Edwards to win his second consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and his third at Kentucky Speedway.



But this was not the same bumpy, abrasive Kentucky Speedway where Keselowski went to Victory Lane in 2012 and 2014. This was a repaved, reconfigured 1.5-mile intermediate track fraught with treachery, especially when combined with the lower-downforce aerodynamic package in use for the race.


RELATED: Recap all of Keselowski’s wins


Keselowski got to the finish line .175 seconds ahead of Edwards, who made up a deficit of more than six seconds in the final 10 laps but couldn’t quite get to Keselowski’s rear bumper on the final lap.



When Keselowski took the checkered flag, his fuel cell was dry. The driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford didn’t have enough gas to do a celebratory burnout, and he needed a push from a safety truck to get to Victory Lane.



Keselowski took the lead from Kevin Harvick after a restart on Lap 200 and held it the rest of the way, except for Lap 261, when Matt Kenseth took the top spot and immediately came to pit road for fuel.



By then, the die was cast for Keselowski, who was committed to finishing the race without another fuel stop.



“We knew the fuel mileage,” said Keselowski, who won for the fourth time this year, the 21st time in his career, and became the first driver to officially clinch a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. “We went out and we set a really fast pace there on that restart and were just using fuel, and then it became obvious that you were going to have to save fuel at the end, but I already used so much.



“It’s a testament to our guys to have the fuel mileage that we did to be able to get back what I burnt early in the run and get the Miller Lite Ford in Victory Lane. Usually these repaves are kind of my Achilles heel, but to get a win here at Kentucky… I know it’s been a good track for us in the past, but this isn’t the same Kentucky, I can tell you that. 



“These cars were tough to drive today, but a good tough. This was a hard-fought battle, and I’m really proud of everybody on the 2 crew to get win number four and take that first place.”



When Keselowski slowed through Turn 4 on the next-to-last lap, Edwards thought he had the race won, but in retrospect, Edwards believed he had been beaten by a cunning opponent.



“Yeah, I thought he was out of fuel coming off of (Turn) 4, but he actually did it very well,” Edwards said of Keselowski, who indicated on his radio with more than a lap left that he was out of fuel. “If he didn’t beat me, I’d be more impressed…



“I guess I’m impressed that he did beat me, but I don’t want to be. He waited. He basically shut the car off and went right off of 4 and matched it perfectly to where I couldn’t get by him down the front straightaway, and then he ran like heck through 1 and 2, and then I thought maybe he’ll run out down the back straight. Man, I dove it down in there trying to catch him into 3, and I couldn’t even get to him.”

RELATED: Edwards discusses finish of race



Keselowski, however, said he thought he was out of gas when his car sputtered off Turn 4.



“I didn’t think I was going to win the race,” Keselowski said.



Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. dominated the first two-thirds of the event, leading 128 and 46 laps, respectively.



Truex had taken the lead off pit road on Lap 196, but NASCAR sent him to the rear of the field for passing Harvick, then the race leader, on the entry to pit road. For the last 68 laps, Truex drove like a madman, advancing from 23rd to as high as third before pitting for fuel and finishing 10th.



“It wasn’t my night on that deal,” Truex said. “It’s frustrating, we had the car to beat. We came out with the lead and they took it away from us. It’s just the way it goes, I guess.”



Particularly perilous throughout the race were the flatter of the two corners —Turns 3 and 4 — with the entry to Turn 3 especially daunting. Ten laps into the race, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pancaked the right side of his No. 17 Ford against the outside wall of the Turn 3 torture chamber.



Nor were champions and frontrunners exempt from calamity. On Lap 32, Jimmie Johnson spun through Turn 4 and crumpled the left rear quarter of his No. 48 Chevrolet. On Lap 53, Joey slammed the Turn 3 wall after scraping it 10 laps earlier.



On Lap 88, Ryan Blaney spun from the middle of a three-wide dilemma in Turn 3 and took the No. 24 Chevrolet of fellow Sunoco Rookie of the Year competitor Chase Elliott with him. On Lap 93, the cars of Brian Scott , Chris Buescher and AJ Allmendinger were mangled in an eight-car pileup.



Lap 194 produced the 11th caution of the race, tying the record set last year, but from a restart on Lap 200 through the finish on Lap 267, the race ran green, and Keselowski was able to squeeze 68 laps out of his fuel cell.



“We were totally out at the start/finish line,” said Paul Wolfe, Keselowski’s crew chief. “So it couldn’t have timed out any better.”



Notes: Kurt Busch ran fourth, followed by Tony Stewart , who scored a top five in his 600th career start… Greg Biffle scored a season-best sixth-place finish… Harvick came home ninth and saw his series points lead shrink to four markers over Keselowski.

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SPARTA, Ky. — Ranked higher in points than all three of his veteran teammates, Chase Elliott enters the Kentucky Speedway weekend as Hendrick Motorsports’ most consistent wheelman this season, but remains hungry for Victory Lane as he sits in the middle of a competitive Chase Grid battle.
 
On Day 3 of the tripleheader weekend and fresh off a top-10 finish in Thursday’s opening practice, Elliott looked ahead to Saturday’s Quaker State 400 (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
 
“That’s our goal, is to try to get to Victory Lane and I feel like I have a team that can do that. … (I’m) just trying to get the job done,” Elliott said during Friday morning’s press conference.
 
“If we can get some stickers on our car,” Elliott continued, “that would be a big goal for us and what we want to do.”
 
The 20-year-old rookie sits in eighth place in the driver standings, sandwiched between Coca-Cola 600 victor Martin Truex Jr. — seventh — and six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson — ninth — and is ranked highest among the rest of the Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates.
 
However, with 11 different winners in 2016 and Tony Stewart shaking up the field following his Sonoma win, Matt Kenseth , who won at Dover, believes it could be anyone to see Victory Lane before September’s playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway.
 
“There’s certainly way more than 11 cars, teams and drivers out there that are capable of winning races if everything goes right on any given day,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said before Friday’s first practice session.
 
“There’s a lot of people out there that don’t have a win this year that are plenty capable and could get a win before the Chase starts. …
 
You never know what’s going to happen.”

Elliott has never raced as a Sprint Cup Series driver at Kentucky, but he has four appearances at the 1.5-mile track as an XFINITY Series driver. Elliott’s best finish was fourth, accomplished twice (in the fall races in 2014 and ’15).

This time Elliott, like the other drivers, will encounter a new racing surface after Kentucky underwent a repave prior to this weekend’s events. The track also added mismatched banking in the corners.

But Elliott didn’t seemed fazed by the changes at Kentucky.

“Yes, the majority of us have never seen this place before, but we are all still trying to achieve the same things that we try to achieve each week,” Elliott said. “It is different. The surface is a little different than it was when we raced here last, but the world has not quit turning. We are still trying to do the same things.”

Posted on by Staff Report

MORE: Stewart’s wins | Top moments | @nascarcasm’s alternative hashtags

Tony Stewart‘s final season started on the bench. But in a resurgence befitting a three-time Sprint Cup Series champion, he’s back in the hunt for a berth in the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.


Stewart missed the first eight races of 2016 with a burst fracture of the L1 vertebra following an ATV accident in California in late January. Brian Vickers (Daytona, Las Vegas, Fontana, Martinsville and Texas) and Ty Dillon (Atlanta, Phoenix and Bristol) filled in behind the wheel of Stewart’s car. 


With a Chase waiver, a win at Sonoma and a good chance at moving into the top 30 in points by the end of the regular season, we track Stewart’s final season as a full-time Sprint Cup Series driver:

Late wreck foils Stewart’s final visit to Daytona

Daytona International Speedway just wasn’t kind to Tony Stewart in his final season. He missed his last shot at winning the Daytona 500 as a full-time driver, and he wrecked late in the Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola. | Read more | ‘Big one’ takes out big names

Road course king rules again
Tony Stewart  bumped former teammate Denny Hamlin out of the lead on the final-lap pass at Sonoma Raceway, achieving the all-important victory required for him to gain a berth in the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup provided he can finish the regular season in the top 30 in points. | Read more | Bird’s-eye view of the pass

Turning the corner
A top-10 finish at Michigan in mid-June started fanning the flames of hope for ‘Smoke.’ After qualifying well the week before at Pocono but finishing 34th, a seventh-place finish in the FireKeepers Casino 400 gave the No. 14 SHR team exactly what it needed. | Read more | Top 10 boosts Stewart’s Chase chances

Just getting started

Tony Stewart scores a 19th-place finish in his return to racing at Richmond and is eager for more action, saying “at 44, I can still outrace a lot of these guys.” | Read more | Stewart cuts tire | What move impressed ‘Smoke?’

Returning to action
Tony Stewart gets in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ride for the first in 2016. Holly Cain provides the full story from Richmond. | Read more | Stewart embraced, supported in return | Stewart revved up for return

Back in the No. 14 Chevrolet

Tony Stewart announces that he will return to the No. 14 Chevrolet at Richmond International Raceway. After months of rehabilitation, “Smoke” prepares to finish off his final season. | Read More | NASCAR grants Chase waiver | Drivers react to return| Co-owner assesses SHR’s season so far

Insight into the recovery
At Texas, Tony Stewart provides an update on his recovery from a back injury that has kept him sidelined to start the 2016 season. | Read more | Vickers looks to take advantage of opportunity with SHR

Go behind the scenes with ‘Smoke’
Mobil 1 is running a series of ads celebrating Tony Stewart’s final season and what he may do for his next chapter. NASCAR.com got to behind the scenes with the making of this campaign. | Read more | ‘Smoke’ practices his French?

Doctors implementing rehab regimen for Stewart
Stewart-Haas Racing updated Tony Stewart ‘s back injury and a rehab regimen is being implemented by doctors to hasten the three-time champion’s recovery. | Read more | Stewart gives health update

Stewart surprises in Atlanta
Three-time champion Tony Stewart is still rehabbing his back injury but he made a surprise appearance at Atlanta Motor Speedway. | Read more

Stewart breaks silence
Tony Stewart took to Periscope to shed some light on his rehab process, his injury and what happened to him in his accident in the desert. Read more | Stewart calls into FOX pre-500

Vickers to fill in at Daytona

Stewart-Haas Racing has tabbed Brian Vickers to replace the injured Tony Stewart for Daytona Speedweeks. Vickers will run the No. 14 Chevrolet in the Daytona 500 , the Can-Am Duels and Sprint Unlimited. Read more

Stewart sidelined for start of season

Tony Stewart will miss the beginning of the 2016 Sprint Cup Series season, the three-time champ’s final full-time season in the sport, due to a back injury sustained in an ATV accident. Read more

Evernham describes accident, evacuation

Former crew chief Ray Evernham accompanied Tony Stewart in a helicopter from the site of his sand dune crash to a hospital. He describes a rather odd landing and other details. Read more

On the scene: Friends describe what happened
Don Prudhomme and Greg Biffle were among those riding in the group that were driving all-terrain vehicles in Arizona with Tony Stewart . Both discuss the incident as well as how drivers spend their time off. Read more

Explaining the severity of the injury
Dr. Jerry Punch, ESPN commentator and a physician, explains what a burst fracture of the L1 vertebra means for Tony Stewart and describes the road to recovery to get back in the No. 14 Chevrolet. Hear what he said

Stewart injury update from Stewart-Haas Racing

Read Thursday’s release from Stewart-Haas Racing outlining Tony Stewart ‘s injuries and current condition. The No. 14 driver is expected to miss the beginning of the season. Read more

 

Stewart hospitalized with back injury:
Sprint Cup Series driver Tony Stewart was hospitalized with a back injury after an all-terrain vehicle accident on the West Coast. Read more

Stewart to retire from Sprint Cup after ’16:
Stewart was at peace with his decision to retire after the 2016 season when he announced his plans in September of 2015. He explained why he was ready to take this step. Read more

Stewart through the years gallery
From his beginnings in racing through the Indy Racing League and three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships, see classic photos of Stewart in this gallery. See Photos

Posted on by Staff Report

Final practice recap | Final practice speeds | See the full starting lineup

For the second time on Friday, Carl Edwards ‘ No. 19 Toyota soared to the top of the leaderboard with a fast lap of 187.448 mph in the final practice at Kentucky Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver also paced the field in the previous practice and will roll off the grid fifth in Saturday’s Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Martin Truex Jr. ranked second on the speed charts, his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota clocking in at 186.528 mph. Kyle Larson wheeled his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Chevrolet at 186.387 mph to earn the third spot on the leaderboard, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. piloted his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet fourth-fastest at 186.091 mph. 

Reigning race winner Kyle Busch rounded out the top five in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, notching a fast lap of 185.989 mph.

Denny Hamlin , who topped Friday’s opening session, experienced a rough start to the final session when his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota brushed the wall coming out of Turns 3 and 4. Kurt Busch’s No. 41 Chevrolet spun and made contact with the wall toward the end of practice, bringing out the caution flag and forcing Busch to a backup — and to the rear — for Saturday’s 400-miler. 

The Sprint Cup Series is back on track Saturday for the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM Radio).


Practice 3 recap | Practice 3 results 

Carl Edwards led Friday’s second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice after rain shortened the earlier scheduled run. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver set the pace for the field with a speed of 188.633 mph. The second session ran for approximately 40 minutes and followed a heavy downpour.


Martin Truex Jr. was second-fastest to Edwards at 187.774 mph in his No. 78 Toyota. Kyle Larson was third-fastest (187.487 mph) in the second session after coming in as fifth-fastest in Friday’s opening run.


Kyle Busch, who was fourth on the speed chart (187.123 mph), had a close call after getting loose coming around a turn and nearly hit the wall, but the defending Sprint Cup Series champion saved his No. 18 Toyota from any damage. 


Austin Dillon was fifth on the leaderboard at 187.097 mph.


Jimmie Johnson , who went to a backup No. 48 Chevrolet after damaging his first car in Friday’s opening practice, finished eighth in the day’s second session driving his alternate car (186.561 mph). Johnson was second-fastest in Friday’s first practice. 


Practice 2 recap | Practice 2 results

Propelled by a fast lap of 188.285 mph in his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Denny Hamlin topped Friday’s first of two scheduled NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practices at Kentucky Speedway in a session that was cut short due to inclement weather.

The session was scheduled from 11 a.m.-12:25 p.m. ET, but cars were called to the garage just before 11:30 a.m. ET with severe thunderstorms in the area. Twenty minutes later it began to rain.

MORE: Stay updated on the weather

Next on the leaderboard was Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson , who posted the early fast speed of 188.121 mph before being overtaken by Hamlin. Johnson also hit the wall solidly during a later run, which led to crew chief Chad Knaus urging the crew to bring out the backup car.

“I just got wide,” Johnson said of the wreck. “I didn’t have anything go wrong, I just got wide and the car just started going straight and it wouldn’t turn. I was in the marbles. I couldn’t see the line where the track was clean and dirty and it just kept going straight and straight and straight and hit the wall.”

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick was third on the speed charts with a fast lap of 188.088 mph in his No. 4 Chevrolet. Ty Dillon was fourth with a speed of 188.042 mph in the No. 95 Chevrolet while Kyle Larson rounded out the top five with a top speed of 187.963 mph in his No. 42 Chevrolet.

One day after Toyotas posted the four fastest speeds in opening practice, Chevrolets held seven of the top eight fastest times Friday. Carl Edwards , who led Thursday’s session, was ninth Friday (187.461 mph) in the No. 19 Toyota. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. posted the 10th-fastest time (187.007 mph) and was the top Ford on the board.

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Get live weather updates

 

Inclement weather altered Friday’s on-track schedule at Kentucky Speedway.

Nearly 30 minutes into the day’s first of two scheduled NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practices, a severe thunderstorm warning had officials sending Sprint Cup Series cars into the garage. Denny Hamlin had posted the fastest speed at the time, with Jimmie Johnson — who later smacked the wall solidly — sitting in second. Heavy rains followed, and the practice officially ended at 12:25 p.m. ET.

Four other on-track events were planned, but altered. Here’s what’s new: The second Sprint Cup Series practice began at 3:45 when the track was dry and was scheduled to run until 4:25 p.m. ET. NASCAR XFINITY Series qualifying will follow at 4:45 p.m. ET, with Sprint Cup Series final practice running from 6:30-7:30 p.m. ET.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying is canceled and will be set per the rule book (owner points) — that puts Kevin Harvick on the pole position with Brad Keselowski also on the front row. MORE | See the full lineup

The NASCAR XFINITY Series Alsco 300 (8:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, Live Extra, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will wrap up the day’s events.

RELATED: See the full weekend schedule


Wet weather also altered Wednesday’s original schedule, which had three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practices on the books. That schedule was adjusted to have two practices, including an extended 175-minute session. The extra time had added importance as Kentucky underwent a repave and the 1.5-mile track has a fresh racing surface.

Sprint Cup teams tested at the track last month over two days following the Michigan weekend and practiced here yesterday. XFINITY Series teams had four practices on Thursday.

This story will be updated.